Day 23: The Last Leg!

You need a village, if only for the pleasure of leaving it.  A village means that you are not alone, knowing that in the people, the trees, the earth, there is something that belongs to you, waiting for you when you are not there.  

~Casare Pavese

New Mexico to Arizona
390 miles

Happy Independence Day!

It's the first time in 19 years that I'm not at the Club organizing relays, pie-eating contests, cannonball contests, and watermelon races (and then staying late to make sure the "happy" revelers aren't throwing kids over the backstroke flags or losing their suits in belly-flop contests!).  This is freedom!

We left New Mexico and headed west and north.  As we got close to Tucson, we could see ominous clouds around and ahead of us.  Eventually, we were driving in the most driving, ridiculous rainstorm for about 1 1/2 hrs.  We saw several bad accidents -- very scary and exhausting. When we finally made it to the hotel, the stories were all about the rain, flooding, and funnel clouds in the area we had just crossed.

We're finishing our trip on a high note.  We stopped at the Camelback Inn in Scottsdale -- very nice place & beautiful room (for $60 less a night than the awful motel connected to the water park in Rapid City, SD!).  Went out for a fabulous dinner, and were settling in for a good rest before the final push for home when the fireworks began.  So, here we are, sitting out on our front patio in our jammies, eating our take-out creme brulee, and watching the show from ASU.  Doesn't get any better than this!